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TMNKSCxIVlNG SEMON, 



PREACHED BEFORE THE 



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CAMP TODD, MVOON, MrSSOURI, NOV .28, 1861^ | 



AND A 



SKETCR OF THE REGIMENT. 



ESV. B. W. OHIDLAW, CHAPLAIN. 



C I N r N X AT 1 : 
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THANKSGIYING SERMON, 



PREACHED BEFORE THE 



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AT 



CAMP TODD, MACON, MISSOURI, NOV. 28, 1861 



AND A 



SKETCH OF THE EEGIMENT. 



REV. b; ¥. OHIDLAW, CHAPLAIN. 



CINCINNATI: 

PUBLISHED BY GEORGE CRO;SBr. 
1861. 



2 



SERMON 



0, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good. — Ps. cxviii : 1. 

Every duty which God requires of his creatures 
is perfectly reasonable. As moral and accounta- 
ble beings, we are the subjects of the Divine gov- 
ernment; our homage, and our obedience to God's 
authority and law, are righteous and reasonable 
demands. As dependent creatures, receiving 
every good and perfect gift from his kind and 
bountiful hand, gratitude and thanksgiving should 
flow from every heart, and burden the utterances 
of every tongue. To-day, in nineteen of these 
United States, in accordance with a time-honored 
usage, the people, by the Governors of their re- 
spective States, have been invited to lay aside the 
cares and business of life, to think of the manifold 
blessings of Divine Providenee, and at their homes 
and Christian sanctuaries, to ofi:er fervent prayer 
and grateful acknowledgements to our Heavenly 
Father, for his abundant goodness and plenteous 
mercy. 



We are assembled this morning under peculiar 
circumstances : far from our peaceful, happy 
homes, and in the midst of all the dreadful reali- 
ties of civil war. Kesponding with glad hearts to 
the proclamation of our honored Governor, we 
have marched from our homes on the tented field, 
stacked our arms, and in this house of God, we 
would pay our vows unto the Lord, and adore 
with thanksgiving his great and holy name. 

Individually, we are the constant recipients of 
Divine favors, for, in God we live, move, and have 
all the blessings, which render existence such a 
privilege, such a boon. The great expounder of 
the constitution, nearing to life's last mile stone, 
appreciating the blessings of life, exclaimed, "I 
still live." In the midst of death and its harbingers 
on the battle fields and in the hospital, we are all 
of us here, alive, before God. Life, health, and 
reason, are divine favors inestimable in value, and 
indispensable for the enjoyment of life; these we 
have shared in rich profusion. Our days and 
nights have been crowned with never ceasing be- 
stowments of Divine goodness. Our time has not 
been spent bed-riden, and sorely afiiicted, our rea- 
son has not been dethroned, the vacant stare of 
the idiot is not seen in our countenances, nor the ra- 
vings of the maniac l.eard from our lips. What a 
blessing is a sound mind in a healthy body. Think 
of it, my hearers, appreciate its Avorth, and with 
humble, grateful hearts, give thanks unto the Lord 
your God. 

Call to rcniem])rance, also, the moral and 



spiritual blessings we have personally enjoyed. 
What power, unseen but real, has preserved you 
from the degrading dominion of those lusts and 
passions that war against the soul ? Why has not 
habitual drunkenness dragged you down beneath 
its iron heel, brutalized your humanity, crushed 
your mental faculties, and hurried you into a 
drunkard's dishonored grave ? While others have 
fiillen, you have maintained your ground against 
this monster foe. God helped you to stand, and 
to the integrity of your moral principles, and the 
fear of God, you owe this deliverance. Then 
thankfully acknowledge his goodness, and anew 
pledge fidelity at the altars of temperance. 

While the libertine, trampling on the law of 
moral purity, the debauchee reveling in guilty 
pleasure, the gambler gloating over his ungodly 
spoils, have yielded to the destroyer, God has ena- 
bled you to stand unscathed ; your moral courage 
has resisted temptation ; you are this day monu- 
ments of God's preserving care. Young men, 
beware of the seductions of vice ; beware of vile 
and polluting conversation, of books and pam- 
phlets that are vice-engendering, lust-inflaming, 
and soul-destroying. Keep your minds and hearts 
pure ; trifle not with temptation ; set your face 
like flint against the thoughts of sin. Licentious- 
ness has brought to the dust, diseased and dis- 
honored, thousands of manly forms, carried misery 
and woe to many an innocent and bleeding heart. 
Beware, then, of the "strange woman which flat- 
tereth w ith her words, which forsaketh the guide 



6 

of lier youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her 
God ; for her house inclineth unto death, l^one 
that go into her return again, neither take they 
hold on the paths of life." 

The soldier, free from vicious habits, fortified 
with good principles, devoted to moral and intel- 
lectual improvement, holds in his own hand a 
God-given passport to respect, usefulness and 
honor, wherever he goes. Napoleon, from his 
rank and file, gathered up Generals, Field Mar- 
shals and Kings. Your country will not fail to 
recognize and appreciate the moral, the intellec- 
tual, and the heroic claims of her gallant sons. 
Then amid the difficulties and trials of camp life, 
Joseph-like, maintain your moral purity unstained, 
avoid the snares of guilty pleasures, turn away 
from the gamblintr table and the gilded saloon ; 
devote assiduously your time and talents to mili- 
tary duty, moral and mental culture ; then God 
will enrich you with all the treasures of his love, 
shield you with his arm, guide you with his eye, 
and in the camp or on the battle field, with you 
all will be w^ell. 

In our social and domestic blessings, we find 
al )undant reasons for thanksgiving. Never before, 
on such a day, have we looked at our homes and 
our loved ones there, with such emotions of interest 
and gratitude. Ilere we are surrounded with 
homes desolated, society loosened in all its ties, 
uj^heaved with mutual distrusts and bitter ani- 
mosities — the sad work of secession. In our dis- 
tant homes ])eyond the Father of Waters, the 



prairies of Illinois, and the hills of Indiana, in the 
valleys of the Miami, the Scioto, and the Muskin- 
gum, all is peace and harmony, ISTo rebel hordes, 
in the madness of treason, pillage and destroy. 
As the shield of Divine Providence is over our 
homes, our families and friends, while onr beloved 
Commonwealth is blessed with peace and plenty 
in all her borders, let us joyously and gratefully 
give thanks to the Lord our God, and serve him 
all our days. 

In this day of our national peril, while armed 
treason is lifted up to destroy the life of a nation, 
to subvert law and order, to break up the tried 
foundations of civil government — to stay its ac- 
cursed blows, to crush its malignant power, is a 
duty, an honor and a pi*ivilege, for which every 
loyal heart should give devout thanksgiving to the 
Kuler of nations. Did not the fathers of our 
nationality thank God for their high calling in 
behalf of human freedom, vindicated on every 
battle field of the Revolution? They, by sacrifices 
that we have read of but never experienced, laid 
broad and deep the foundations of a free govern- 
ment, and eighty-five years of trial has proved it 
to be the best the world ever saw. The men of 
'76 laid the corner stones of our free institutions, 
ordained of God, and the men of '93 reared the 
well compacted and glorious edifice. The world 
has gazed upon it with astonishment and hope. 
In 1861, all civilized nations beheld with horror a 
bold attempt to destroy it — to raze its holy foun- 
dations, and build on its ruins a "Confederacy," 



8 

founded on human slavery as its chief corner 
stone. Is it duty to save your life from the assas- 
sin ? Is it a privilege to aid in arresting the lurid 
flames sweeping over your dwelling ? So, in the 
preservation of your Government, which God has 
founded, and favored for eighty-live years with his 
approving smiles, it is our duty to pray that '' God 
would arise and scatter its enemies, and hring 
them down," and to gird on the sword in his name, 
and as his agents to crush the foe ; and thus re- 
store the Union, maintain the supremacy of law, 
and bring peace in all our borders. We should 
thank God that he has given us a strong arm and 
a willing heart to strike our manly blows in this 
second war of independence. We are defending 
the principles, the actions, and the success of the 
men of '76. If truth and right were on their side 
on the battle-fields of the Kevolution, they are 
equally on our side in the struggles of '61. 

What an enormous crime is secession! An 
attempt to destroy national life when millions, 
tens of millions, through it are enjoying life, lib- 
erty, and the pursuit of happiness. In ill-fated 
Mexico, w ith its internal feuds and guerrilla wars, 
its anarchy and barbarism, we can see the ripe 
fruits of secession. There, where life, property, 
and liberty are in constant jeopardy, could you 
give thanks to God as you can to-day under the 
protection of the star-spangled banner? Then, as 
you regard the rule of law, and the operations of 
a just government^ stand manfully in the breach, 
and smite the ambitious demagogues, the unprin- 



9 

cipled adventurers, now engaged in the work of 
destr action. 

To-day, with the great heart of loyalty in all its 
pulsations beating in perfect harmony to put down 
this wicked rebellion, so broad in its dimensions, 
and disastrous in its purposes, let us give thanks 
to Almighty God, that in this great conflict we 
have not only right on our side, but might. Our 
resources to carry on this war of self-preservation 
are abundant. In the loyal States, to say nothing 
of the Union men, like spirits in prison, under the 
galling power of the double-dyed despotism called 
the " Confederate States,"— we have near 20,000,- 
000 that have never bowed the keee to this politi- 
cal Baal, which is worshiped by traitors and their 
sympathizers. These 20,000,000 believe in the 
Divineness of human governments, and that the 
temple of our freedom is not to be undermined at 
pleasure, and a free people hopelessly crushed in 
its ruins. We have 3,800,000 lighting men, wor- 
thy of their sires and their brethren now in the 
field, out of which the grand army of deliverance 
may be formed. Already 500,000 men, brave and 
true, are in arms, and on the field. A million 
more, in the spirit of the freedom-loving Bohe- 
mians, are ready to follow Tiska's drum whenever 
it beats. Our own beloved, honored Ohio, has 
already sent out to the battle-fields of right 
against wrong, 61,000 of her valiant sons. She 
has sent twenty- three gallant regiments to Vir- 
ginia^ to rescue the Old Dominion from the grasp 
of the destroyer. Eighteen regiments are in Keu- 



10 

tucky, glorious old Kentucky, repelling the inva- 
ders of her soil ; and in Missouri, two of her regi- 
ments have stood before the sweeping tides of re- 
bellion and ruin. After this first fruit of loyalty 
to the Union, and confidence In the government — 
this sacred offering on the altar of patriotism — she 
has a reserve of 400,000 of her sons, that she can 
send to the rescue. Ohio weeps over her gallant 
Lowe, and all her brave troops that fell on the 
battle-fields of Virginia, Kentucky, and Missouri. 
Kobbed of her worthy sons that are cold In death, 
or treated as felons in loathsome prisons, she will 
not withhold her treasures of men and money. 
All her energies, all her resources, will promptly 
respond to the call of our country in every time of 
need, and let our hearts rebound with thanksgiv- 
ing to the God of our fathers, that our great Com- 
monwealth is so highly distinguished. 

The amount of subsistence for the support of our 
vast armies is truly wonderful, and demands our 
grateful recognition and humble thanks. Our 
enemies look at their hoarded cotton ; they can 
convert It to no available use ; there Is nothing to 
eat or to wear in it. This King Cotton — their all 
and in all — their strong deliverer — their bribe to 
the nations of Europe — Is virtually In chains, help- 
less and hopeless. But what of the grain and pro- 
visions of the West, the commerce of the Atlantic 
coast, and the manufactories of the East ^ Like 
mighty giants aroused, they are advancing to the 
contest. We can feed our five hundred thousand 
noble soldiers with abundance of the choicest 



11 

food, and send an immense surplus to feed the 
famishing millions of France and England. And 
this supply of food is a bond that these nations 
shall keep the peace with the United States — a 
security against foreign interference — an assu- 
rance that we shall do our own work in our own 
way, none molesting or making us afraid. 

The clothing needed by our army we shall soon 
be able to supply. The wool crop of the United 
States, in 1857, was 18,000,000 pounds, and our 
hills are still covered with flocks, so that the 15,- 
000,000 yards of cloth needed annually can be 
manufactured. Thus, in the providence of God, 
we can feed and clothe our vast army. The na- 
tion is not impoverished by this righteous war. 
The producing and consuming is among ourselves. 
The balance of trade is in our favor, and the pre- 
cious materials are reaching our shores from almost 
every part of the civilized world. We need send no 
bogus financial agents to the capitalists of England 
to obtain money or stolen property, as rebel finan- 
ciers are wont to do. The nation is really strength- 
ened in its material interests and vitality by this 
demonstration of strength in self-preservation. A 
national debt will be a light burden, compared 
with the dismemberment of the Union, and the 
subversion of the constitution. Money invested 
in the national loan will bind the people to a com- 
mon interest in maintaining the integrity and 
perpetuity of the general government. 

In the prosecution of this war, we have suffered 
some reverses. These have been mercies in dis- 



12 

guise, trials of our confidence in the justness of 
our cause and the integrity of our purposes, for 
which we find reasons for thanksgiving. Our de- 
feats have humbled our pride, taught us lessons of 
wisdom, and really made us stronger. They have 
aroused and consolidated our military power, as 
nothing but such momentary defeat could do. 
The barren victories of our enemies at Bull's Kun 
and Lexington have not settled the question that 
the Union is to be dissolved, and a new dynasty 
erected on its crumbling ruins. But they have 
gathered an army, with a young leader, on the 
banks of the Potomac, whose advance will soon be 
felt at Richmond and Nashville. They have sent 
forth an armada that has leveled to the dust the 
strong holds of rebellion in the xQvy center of its 
strength — the pledge that ere long the starry ban- 
ner shall wave on the battlement of Moultrie and 
Sumter ; and they are now marshalling on the 
banks of the Mississippi a force, which, blessed of 
God, is destined to plant the old emblem of our 
nationality over the Crescent City, and the plains 
of Texas. 

As a regiment, the Thirty-ninth 0. V. Infantry 
has shared largely in the benefactions of Divine 
l*rovidencc. The God of the armies of Israel has 
been our sun and shield. General good health has 
blessed our ranks. Only ten of our number have 
died. The maintenance of good order and sound 
discipline has elevated our regimental character, 
and given us a reputation worthy of reliable and 
gentlemanly soldiers. Let the morale of 



13 



ment be sacredly maintained; yea, let our stan- 
dard of moral and military excellence be elevated 
higher and higher, so that no honored parent, no 
lovnig wife, or afiectionate child, shall be sorrow- 
smitten or disgraced by our conduct, or our fate. 
ihe division and separation of our regiment, a 
necessary evil from which we have all sufiered is 
soon to end, and a pleasant reunion is at hand • 
and the Thirty-ninth, reunited, shall go forth un- 
der her gallant leader wherever duty may call 
Irue to each other, our country and our God in 
trials and triumphs, in joy and in sorrow, we shall 
aid our comrades in arms till victory shall rest on 
our banner, and. our Government vindicated and 
sustained-the Union indivisible now and forever 
I add one other cause of our thanksgiving. 
While we see around us the blighting curse of 
secession, on once happy homes-on the altars of 
religion, the temples of learning and the marts of 
trade-our loved Ohio is blessed with peace in all 
her_ borders. Her 2,860,000 of inhabitants have 
their sanctuaries opened for the worship of God 
Over 12,000 school-houses echo the sweet hum 
of our children quietly pursuing their education. 
Our helds have teemed with an abundant harvest- 
the dm of industry is heard in our shops, and all 
departments of business give signs of activity and 
thrift. The majesty of law gives security to our 
homes; social life is not embittered by mutual 
teuds and rankling animosities. While we are 
re-establishing law and order, maintaining the 
Government in Missouri, we can rest assured that 



14 

no JeiF. Davis nor Claib. Jackson, with hearts and 
hands steeped in the black guilt of treason, is driv- 
ing the plow-share of destruction over our happy 
firesides, stealing our property, and filling our 
State w^th weeping, lamentation and woe. These 
that are dependent on us, are not ojily protected, 
but they will not suffer from want. Peace and 
plenty bless our distant homes. J^o accursed re- 
bellion has brought gaunt famine to stare them in 
the face. Starvation prices are not there ; the 
necessaries and comforts of life abound, and none 
of our loved ones need suffer for the necessaries of 
life. 

Enjoying the blessings of a benignant, just and 
free Government, and now in the day of its peril, 
called to defeud it from powerful and inveterate 
foes, let patriotism and religion nerve you for the 
confiict. As a soldier, maintain the position and 
character of a true gentleman; exemplify the stern 
bravery of a gallant hero, combined with the vir- 
tues of true goodness. Always act under the 
authority of enlightened convictions of the good 
and true; cheerfully obey your superiors; study 
your duty and do it with pleasure ; honor the law 
in all its requirements. Wliile you serve your Gov- 
ernment, let prompt, constant and cheerful obedi- 
ence be your thank offering. In this warfare 
against lawlessness, stand up for the majesty of the 
law and its supremacy. In every thing be regu- 
lated by its authority; never let lawlessness stamp 
with its l)lack stains the fair record of your soldier 
life. Give to God the homage of 3^our heart; be- 



1 



b 



lieve and study his holy word ; rest on his gracious 
promises ; delight in his holy law, and lay hold on 
eternal life, the gift of God through our Lord 
Jesus Christ. 



MORAL AND RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF THE 
REGIMEA^T. 



A thousand men in a military camp, gathered from 
almost as many different families, with every shade of 
character and every grade of culture, present a heteroge- 
neous mass, and a peculiar field for philanthropic and 
religious labors. From the best analysis of the moral 
and spiritual condition of our men, it appears that a very 
large number seldom attended divine worship before they 
entered the service, yet the religious element had con- 
siderable strength in the ranks of the 39th. The Chap- 
lain has always met a cordial reception by officers and 
men. The circulation of good books and tracts has 
been a means of usefulness. The public worship of God 
on the Sabbath has been regularly maintained and well 
attended. The social religious meetings have been sus- 
tained, and afforded the opportunity of cultivating per- 
sonal acquaintance and brotherly affection. Our Sol- 
diers' Sabbath School, on the Bible class plan, has been 
vigorously and, we hope, profitably sustained. The 
evening religious service at dress parade has been con- 
tinued to the present time. A religious organization, 
called the " Christian Brotherhood of the 39th," its 
motto, " One in Christ," its object, " to live for Christ," 
has been formed, and near one hundred names enrolled. 
A camp library of 50 volumes in the Chaplain's quarters, 
is appreciated and used by many of the men. We feel 
that the moral influence of these various means of in- 
struction and religious improvement is felt through the 
camp. Yet, we mourn over the prevalence of immorality 



17 

and vice. We find it difficult to bring divine truth home 
to the intellect and heart of those who in early youth had 
no moral and religious training, and adult depravity is 
too often repellant to our best efforts to reach the heart. 
The general conduct of our men has been good. Dis- 
cipline and good order have marked our encampment, 
and the character of our regiment has stood fair and 
respectable wherever we have been, and we hope for con- 
stant improvement in our moral, intellectual and spiritual 
condition ; so that, when we have faithfully served our 
country in this time of its peril, we shall return to our 
homes, like the soldiers of Oliver Cromwell, better men 
than when we left. 

^ The preservation of our soldiers from the demoraliza- 
tion of camp life, requires the aid of the officers, by pre- 
cept and example— of good books— the faithful discharge 
of pastoral duty by the chaplain, and the Christianizing 
and strengthening of good principles and a pure life, by 
the correspondence of loved ones at home. These agencies 
and the blessing of God will save our noble army from 
the vice and sins that degrade and ruin the bodies and 
souls of men for time and eternity. 



STAFF, FIELD, AND BAKD OFFICEES 

OF THE 

Thirty-ninth Regiment 0. V., U. S. Infantry. 



Colonel, JOHN GROESBECK Cincinnati, 0. 

Lieut. Colonel, ALFRED W. GILBERT Cincinnati, 0. 

Major, EDWARD F. NOYES Cincinnati, 0. 

Adjutant, CHARLES T. SEDAM Cincinnati, O. 

Surgeon, OLIVER W. NIXON Cincinnati, 0. 

Chaplain, REV. B. W. CHIDLAW Cincinnati, 0. 

Assistant Surgeon, T. W. McARTHUR Wilmington, 0. 

Sergeant-Major, H. A. BABBIT Cincinnati, 0. 

Quarter Master, H A. EDWARDS Cincinnati, 0. 

Q. M. Sergeant, SAMUEL HALL Clerm't Co., 0. 

Hospital Steward, LUTHER HATHAWAY, Marietta, 0. 
Drum Major, G. L. PAYNE Marietta, 0. 

Co. A, from Scioto Co.^ 0. Co. B, fj^om Marietta, 0. 

Capt. N. T. McDowell, Capt. J. C. Fell, 

1st Lieut. J. C. Musser, 1st Lieut. W. H. Edgerton, 

2d Lieut. L. Sontag, 2d Lieut. N. W. Shepherd. 

5 Sergeants, 5 Sergeants, 

8 Corporals, 8 Corporals, 

84 Privates. 81 Privates. 

Co. Q, from Athens, 0. Co. D,from Cincinnati, 0. 

Capt. G. W. Baker, Capt. W. P. Stoms, 

1st Lieut. J. F. Welsh, 1st Lieut. W. Webber, 

2d Lieut. T. W. Minton, 2d Lieut. J. B. Ryon, 

5 Sergeants, 5 Sergeants, 

8 Corporals, 8 Corporals, 

Y5 Privates. 73 Privates. 

Co. E, from Clermont Co. 0. Co. F, from Marietta, O. 

Capt. J. Jenkins, Ca})t. J. Konig, 

1st Lieut. J. Hooker, 1st Lieut. C. Hurd, 

2d Lieut. J. Davis, 2d Lieut. C. Miller, 

5 Sergeants, 5 Sergeants, 

8 Corporals, 8 Corporals, 

79 Privates. 72 Privates. 



19 



Co. G, from Cincinnati, 0. 
Capt. C. W. Pomeroy, (dec'd.) 
Lst Lieut. W. H. Latlirop, 
2d Lieut. Wm. Williams, 

5 Sergeants, 

8 Corporals, 
90 Privates. 



Co. Uyfrom Wilmington, 

Capt Adam Kooorfe, 
1st Lieut S. H. Rulon, 
2d Lieut. J. F, Drake, 

5 Sergeants, 

8 Corporals, 
88 Privates. 



Co. 1, from Adams Co., 0. 
Capt. D, R Benjamin, 
1st Lieut. F. Hypes, 
2d Lieut. A. J. Sawell, 

5 Sergeants, 

8 Corporals, 
79 Privates. 



Co. E^from Athens Co., 0. 
Capt. J. Rhoads, 
1st Lieut. J. M. Paulk, 
2d Lieut. C. G. Knowles, 
5 Sergeants, 
8 Corporals, 
81 Privates. 



NECROLOGY. 



Aug. 20. Accidentally killed on the 0. & M. Railroad, near 
Olney, 111. , Weber, Co. D. , aged 22 years, from Clinton Co. 0. 

Oct. 2d. At Chillicothe, Mo., of typhoid, fever Capt. C. W. 
Pomeroy, Co. G., aged 44. His remains were buried with Ma- 
sonic honors, in Spring Grove Cemetery. 

Oct. 18. At the General Hospital, St. Louis, of fever, Sergt. 
E. A. G. Barrows, aged 27, Co K., and the same day and place, 
his brotherArtemas Barrows, Co. K., aged 22, from Athens Co., 0. 

Nov. 15. At the Hospital in Quincy, III., of fever, Elijah Dye, 
Co. B. aged 21. His remains were taken to Marietta, 0. 

Nov. 22. At Macon, Mo., shot by a citizen, John Wining, 
Co. E., aged 23. His remains were taken to Harrison, 0. 

Nov. 27. At Macon, Mo., of typhoid fever, Henry Rother, Co. 
H., aged 18, from Clermont Co., 0. 

Nov. 27. At Macon, Mo., of typhoid fever, Alvin Blair, of 
Co. K., aged 19, from Decatur Township, Washington Co., 0. 

Nov 29. At Macon, Mo., of typhoid fever, John Fitch, Co. D. 
aged 23, from Hamilton, Butler Co., 0. 

Dec. ]2. Near Richmond, A. Manahan, Co. K, aged 19, from 
Athens Co., 0., buried at Richmond. 

The deaths in the other parts of the Regiment at Sedalia, and 
St. Louis were as follows : 

Capt. Koogle, Co. H., Wilmington, 0. G. W. Wear, Co. D. 
David Hook, Co. C. Jas. Rheiner, Co. G. Jas. Brown, Co. H. 
H. Leonheart, Co. F. John Lark, Co. D. Wm. May, Co. D. 
J. C. Hildreth, Co. D. 



HISTORY 



The Thirty-ninth 0. V., U. S. A. Infantry, was formed 
as an Independent Regiment, by Col. John Groesbeck, 
under the authority of the Secretary of War, on the 8th 
of July, 1861, at Camp Colerain, 14 miles north of Cin- 
cinnati. Here, by Lieut. Walker, U. S. A., the regiment 
was sworn into the service of the United States, and on 
the 1st of August, marched through Cincinnati to Camp 
Dennison. In this Camp we were pleasantly situated, 
uniformed, equipped, and armed with the rifle musket. 
Our time was delightfully employed in acquiring the 
knowledge of drill, the manual of arms, and learning the 
realities of camp life and duty. Aug. 17th, we received 
marching orders for St. Louis, Mo. Rations for two days 
were carefully prepared and deposited in our new haver- 
sacks, and early on the morning of the 18th, we slung our 
knapsacks, and were ofl' for the war. Our reception in 
Cincinnati was very enthusiastic, and thousands of admir- 
ing friends were gladdened by our soldierly appearance 
and gentlemanly conduct. A thousand brave hearts were 
cheered and strengthened by this approbation and sym- 
pathy so warmly expressed by the Queen City. We em- 
barked on two steamboats, amid the shouts of manly 
voices, and the waving of cambric in the fair hands of 
true-hearted ladies. At the patriotic town of Lawrence- 
burgh, our arrival was hailed by the people en masse; 
men, women and children did us honor, and supplied our 
wants. 

We reached St. Louis on the 20th. No shouts of wel- 
come greeted our arrival; no stars and stripes were wav- 



21 

ing in the streets. Orderly and steadily led by our 
gallant officers, we marched four miles, and pitched our 
tents near the State Fair ground — the first encampment 
of Ohio troops in Missouri. Here our officers and men 
devoted their time assiduously to regimental and battalion 
drill. Our only mission on the soil of a sister State, 
cursed with rebellion, was the maintenance of the author- 
ity of law, and the honor of the star-spangled banner. 

In a few days, our drilling and dress parades, and the 
religious service of reading the Scriptures and prayer, by 
the Chaplain, in front of the regiment, attracted large 
crowds of spectators from the city, and hundreds returned 
to their homes with improved views of the character, dis- 
cipline and conduct of the " invaders " of their soil. We 
made many friends, and honored our noble State. The 
grog-shops erected around our camp threatened to do us 
an injury. But Col. Groesbeck at once and efficiently 
demonstrated his purpose, then and always, to suppress 
the traffic in intoxicating drinks, and we suffered no ma- 
terial damage from these strong allies of secession. 

As we marched through St. Louis on the 6th of Sep- 
tember, under orders for Mexico, on the North Missouri 
Railroad, a wonderful change was observed. The Union 
men of the city openly avowed their loyalty, and no sad- 
dening gloom overhung the people. Pulsations of sym- 
pathy with the government and its supporters, were now 
felt in unmistakable throbbings. 

We reached Mexico on the 8th, having left Co. K., 
Capt. Rhoads, at Benton Barracks, in charge of our prop- 
erty and the sick. Now dates the beginning of the un- 
fortunate separation of our regiment — a necessity de- 
plored by the Colonel, his officers, and all the men. The 
enemy made good their escape before our arrival; no 
rebel soldiers or bridge burners could be found. 



^s>. 



On the 12tli, ordered by Gen. Pepe, Col. Groesbeck 
and Major Noyes proceeded to Macon; from thence, Col. 
G. and Maj. N. started with Co.'s A, B, D and I, for Platte 
bridge, recently burned by the rebels, and some forty in- 
nocent lives lost by the wreck of the train. From thence, 
Gen. Pope detailed Major N., with Co.'s A and I, 40 of 
Capt. Vanbergen's Hussars, one piece of artillery, and 
the Sixteenth Illinois Regiment, Col. Smith, in pursuit of 
a rebel force under Gen. Patten, some 1,500 strong, who 
were marching to cross the river at Liberty Landing, to 
join the Confederate army under Price. The enemy made 
good their flight, and our men returned to St. Joseph. 
Col. Groesbeck, with Co.'s B and E, were ordered by Gen. 
Pope to take possession of St. Joseph, where Col. G. 
issued a proclamation, placing the city under martial law, 
and appointing Capt. Fell Provost Marshal. Hence, Col. 
G. was ordered to Chillieothe, where he remained five 
weeks, in command of the post. Thence, on the 6th of 
November, he was ordered to Macon, Mo., having with 
him Co.'s A, B, E, I and K. 

Lieut.-Col. Gilbert left Utica Sept. 17th, with Co.'s C, 
D, F, G and H, with nine Companies of the Twenty-sev- 
enth 0. v.. Col. Fuller, a force in all of 1,100 men, with- 
out cavalry or artillery. Brig. Gen. Sturges in command, 
to reinforce Col. Mulligan at Lexington. They left at 
noon on a forced march of 55 miles in 32 hours. They 
were within nine miles of Lexington. Here a " contra- 
band " informed them that some 6,000 rebels — infantry, 
cavalry and artillery — had crossed the river, and were in 
ambush awaiting our advance ; and that they had seized 
the ferry boats, within four miles of Lexington, at day- 
light the 20th. The information given by the colored 
man was found to be perfectly reliable. Gen. Sturgis at 
once diverged to the right, escaped the enemy, reached 



23 

Richmond at noon, rested, and dined on the crumbs found 
in their haversacks. At 6 P. M. they reached Camden, 
camped on a hill ; they were then 9 miles from Lexington, 
and could see the Stars and Stripes still flying over the 
besieged ramparts, and could hear the Cannonading, but 
it was utterly impossible to render relief to the beleagured. 
On the 20th, by steam boat they left for Kansas City, 
reaching their destination at sun-set. Their escape from 
an enemy five or six times their number, was a providen- 
tial deliverance, reflecting honor on the gallant Greneral 
and his brave men. 

On the 15th of October, Gen. Strugis in command, the 
brigade, consisting of five companies, C, D, Gr, F, and H, of 
the 39th, Lieut. Col. Grilbert and Major Noyes in com- 
mand, the 27th 0. Y., Col. Fuller, Col. Nugent's Missouri 
Regiment, a battery of artillery, and a small force of cav- 
alry, marched to join Major Gen. Fremont. 

At this date, Dec. 4th, this detachment of our Regi- 
ment is at Sedalia, and Col. Groesbeck with the five com- 
panies at Macon, are ordered by Gen Prentiss to St. Joseph 
now threatened by a strong force of the enemy. We sling 
our knapsacks and take a special train for St. Jo., and 
the field. 

This movement prolongs our separation from our 
comrades — a necessity regretted by us all. When the 
Thirty-ninth was ordered to North Missouri, on the 6th 
of September, it was not contemplated that it should be 
so divided, and separated. When our mission to capture 
and disperse the hordes of marauders who burnt railroad 
bridges, persecuted and pillaged Union men, was accom- 
plished, we were to return. The Thirty-ninth did its 
duty nobly in this direction, secured safety to all trains 
on the railroads, and arrested the progress of lawlessness. 
Why a part has been continued on the northern field, 



24 9tf^!^/r. 

and a part has been sent to the south, is a mystery not 
to be solved, but regretted by the gallant regiment and 
all its friends in our loved Ohio. 

December 5th, under Gen. Prentiss, the five Companies 
of the Thirty-ninth, Col. Groesbeck, and parts of the Illi- 
nois Sixteenth, Missouri Sixth, with cavalry and artillery, 
total force, 1,700 men, left St. Joseph, and marched 
through the counties north of the Missouri River, through 
Liberty, Richmond and Carrolton, taking many prisoners 
and destroying the ferry boats along the river. The ene- 
my fled before us, but the mcral effect of the expedition 
was eminently successful. On the 19th, we encamped on 
Grand River, near Chillicothe, having marched near 200 
miles. On the 21st, we reached Palmyra, Mo., where we 
are to remain until our Regiment is united by the wel- 
come arrival of our comrades from Syracuse, Mo., from 
whom we have been so long separated. 



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